THE CITY REBORN FROM THE ASHES OF AMERICA'S MOST DISASTROUS FOREST FIRE

Crivitz Scorched By Blue Devils

The Crivitz Wolverines matched the pace of the Oconto Blue Devils shot for shot in the opening frame of play Friday night on their home floor, only to fall behind late in the second en route to an 84-59 non-conference loss.

The Wolverines actually held a 10-5 lead in that opening eight minutes after a hustle play by Jake Sawinski saw the 511 sophomore guard grab an offensive board and a put-back bucket.

Sawinski had a hand in extending the Crivitz lead a couple of trips down the floor later with an aggressive drive into the lane. The defense collapsed on Sawinski, who was crafty enough to kick it out to the top of the key to a waiting and wide open Cody Wolf. The long range gunner calmly drained a three pointer for the 15-8 readout and at the same time adjusting the expression of the entire Oconto bench, which found itself up on its feet and in timeout mode moments later.

It was right about the time play resumed after that timeout when Ocontos Trent Mehlberg decided to start scoring. This would prove to be bad news for the Wolverines as the 60 senior guard poured in a quick five points to help get the Blue Devils back to even at 17 when the dust settled on a frantically-paced eight minutes of play.

Crivitz was forced to once again find its intensity after the visiting team jumped out to a 24-19 advantage early on thanks to a barrage of precision shooting from Corey Herbert.

Colton Lange got the Wolverines back into it with some tough touches in the paint, including a bucket and and one from the line after an offensive board turned into a hard-fought bucket with an Oconto defender draped all over him.

Lange, along with Dominic Basso, kept the Wolverines close with big plays down low that got Crivitz as close as 33-30.

By the end of the half, the Blue Devils had jumped out to a 43-32 advantage on a scoring spree highlighted by a trey from Mehlberg that looked like it might have been launched from beyond the NBA three-point line.

Things didnt get any better for the Wolverines following the break. Crivitz miscues, along with tenacious defense that turned into points at the other end of the floor for Oconto, saw things unravel for the home team in the third period. The dagger came in the form of another three from Mehlberg to get the score to 60-40.

Mehlberg finished the game with a highlight-laden 35 points, including four from beyond the arc, teammate Kyle Krueger chipped in 14, Corey Herbert 12 and Brady Erieau nine in the win.

Crivitz was paced by Langes 18 points while Basso had 12, including a pair of three pointers, leaving Ben Fischer to round out the teams double-digit scorers with his 10 points.